Improving Employee Motivation at Wesfarmers: A Management Case Study

This case study analyzes the problem of low morale among employees at Wesfarmers and provides recommendations for improving the situation. The report includes an analysis of motivation problems with theories of motivation, designing of intervention, and conclusion.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Summary of Wesfarmers............................................................................................................2
Description of Problem of Low Morale of Employees..............................................................2
Analysis of Motivation problem with Theories of Motivation..................................................4
1. Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory...........................................................................................4
2. Herzberg Two Factor Theory..........................................................................................5
Designing of Intervention..........................................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The respective assignment assists in identifying the different kinds of problems which
are being faced by the different companies. In the respective case, the company that has been
analyzed is Wesfarmers wherein it can be seen that the main issue which is being faced is
lack of motivation among the employees and it directly impacts the growth of the
organization negatively. As commented by Fiaz, Su and Saqib (2017), due to the unmotivated
employees, the losses in the business is one of the common aspects which influences the
overall productivity and profitability of the company negatively as well. The different
employees who display the lack of interest for the company or the job, the companies are
likely to seek employment elsewhere. In the respective report, the main purpose is to identify
the problem which is “Lack of Motivation Among Employees at Wesfarmers” and the
recommendations are required to be provided which will be suitable for improving the
situation appropriately.
Summary of Wesfarmers
Wesfarmers is one of the multinational companies which is considered to be the
conglomerate and it was being incorporated in the year 1914. The different countries which
are served by them includes United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and India. The key
people included in the foundation of the company includes Michael Chaney who is the
Chairman and Rob Scott, the CEO of the company. In the last few years, there has been huge
increase in the revenue of the company which has been amounted to A$68.44 billion and the
number of employees working with Wesfarmers include 223000.

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Description of Problem of Low Morale of Employees
In Wesfarmers, it can be seen that there are different reasons due to which the morale
of the employees is being affected and it impacts the growth of the company negatively.
Certainly, the morale of the different employees is the most difficult things for managing the
company. In such scenario, it is crucial and vital for the companies to maintain high level of
morale among the different employees to improve the retention of the employees (Shah et al.,
2016). At Wesfarmers, it has been surveyed that the employees are leaving jobs as they are
not being motivated and there is lack of proper opportunities that affects their growth
prospects negatively. The different reasons for the low morale of the employees at
Wesfarmers are as follows:
Poor Employee Treatment- It is one of the major reasons for the low morale of the
employees and it is the major failure for treating the employees in an appropriate manner. At
Wesfarmers, it can be seen that the higher-level management of the company do not delegate
the different tasks appropriately in which there is unreasonable kind of workload provided to
one specific employee and it affects the growth aspects of the other employees (Shahri et al.,
2016).
Ill-Defined Development Plan for Employees- It is the second aspect which needs to
be analyzed by Wesfarmers wherein the top-level management officials are not being clear
regarding the vision of the company due to which the expectations are constantly keeps
changing and it is not appropriate for the subordinates to finish the tasks on time (Menges et
al., 2017).
Closed Kind of Communication- It is the third issue which can be seen at Wesfarmers
wherein the workplace does not allow the open communication between the supervisors and
subordinates (Kim & Holzer, 2016). The supervisors try to take the different important

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decisions by themselves and it affects their morale. Making the different employees feel like
they are being kept away from communicating with their leaders have affected their growth
and it has created resentment as well.
Lack of Trust on Employees to Complete the Tasks- It is the other issue which has
been faced by the different employees which affects the growth aspects of the employees. It
manifests in micromanagement or in the working environment wherein the different
employees do not feel that they are being valued (Howard et al., 2016). In such scenario,
there has been high level of turnover among the employees which affected the productivity of
the company negatively. While Wesfarmers were expecting high level of turnover, it caused
the remaining employees to lose their confidence which impacted their work prospects.
From the above, it can be seen that these are the different issues which are affecting
the motivation of the employees negatively and it has impacted the growth prospects of the
company negatively.
Analysis of Motivation problem with Theories of Motivation
1. Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory
Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory is the most widely known and followed theory of motivation.
This theory was developed by Abraham Maslow during the 1940s and 1950s. This theory
accumulates five categories of needs into one. These needs in the theory have been ordered in
a hierarchical order by Maslow in which the theory begins with the basic need for psychology
and keeps continuing through safety, feelings of belonging and love, self-esteem and self-
actualization of an individual. According to the theory the most unsatisfied criteria will
become dominant and significantly powerful need of the theory (Kaur,2013). The most
dominant need of the theory will push an individual to fulfill the need. The needs which has

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already been satisfied does not need to be motivated. An individual always wants to pursue a
higher need of the hierarchy once the lower need is satisfied. The various needs of the theory
are as follows:
Physiological needs: these are the most basic needs of an individual which are needed to
survive especially air, water and food. This is the most dominant among all the different
needs in the theory.
Safety and security: if the physiological needs of an individual is fulfilled then another set of
needs will arise which is basically the safety and security of an individual. Security and
protection is one of the most desired factor in an individual along with a sound health and
well-being of the individual (Adiele & Abraham,2013).
Belongingness and love: an individual always seeks to be a part of a group and have the
feelings of belongingness. Affection and love are the two things an individual always seek
over many other things in life. When both the safety and the physiological needs are covered
then there arises the need for belongingness and love (Ozguner & Ozguner,2014)..
Esteem: the feeling of esteem in an individual suggests that the individual is respected, loved
and wanted in the society. The most stable esteem is the feeling to be respected by the others.
Self-actualization: the desire of an individual to grow and prospect in their life is the self-
actualization of an individual.
2. Herzberg Two Factor Theory
In this theory it has been explained that there are certain factors in a job which causes
satisfaction in the job and certain factors that causes dissatisfaction in the job. The
satisfactory causes are mainly the motivational factors and the dissatisfactory factors are
the unhygienic factors (Alshmemri,Shahwan-Akl & Maude,2017). He theory also states

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that these kinds of factors are not opposite of each other since they have already been
delivered before. According to Herzberg the job satisfiers deals with the context of
performing the job where as the dissatisfying factors deals with the context of defining
the job (Ozguner & Ozguner,2014). The five factors which comprises the theory are:
 Company policy and administration
 Supervision
 Salary
 Interpersonal relationships
 Working conditions (Ghazi,Shahzada & Khan,2013).
Designing of Intervention
Organizational development intervention are a set of programs which are designed
specifically for solving organizational problem which help in achieving the defined goals of
an organization. These set of intervention are designed to help the managers and the leaders
of the organization to manage and operate their organizational in a better way. These
organizational development plans re needed to find the loopholes and the problems which are
being faced by the organization which involves the various process, skills, willingness,
technologies, appraisals, and various other career developments.
The main three types of interventions which are implemented in the organization for
identifying the problems in an organization are:
 Individual
 Group
 Organization

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An organization must be able to find out the kind of organizational development it needs to
be implement for improving itself. Once the company is able to identify the type of
development the company needs it needs to eradicate the problems in an effective manner
(Dreibelbis et al.,2013). The organizational development problems which a company needs to
follow are as follows:
Entering and Contracting: in this part establishment of the fact that the company needs an
organizational development is done.
Diagnosis: in this process the company needs to identify the intervention it needs to
implement and the main reason for the issue of the problem in the company (Colquhoun et
al.,2015).
Designing Intervention: in this step the issue which has been identified will be addressed
and intervened for bringing values to the company business.
Leading and managing change: in this the focus group is selected for implementing the
intervention. The organizational development is used to address the problem of a company
from the top to bottom (Atkins & Michie,2015).
Evaluating and Institutionalizing Interventions: in this step the process of the
interventions is assessed and seen whether any kind of re-designed is needed in the program
and if the process is on track.
Conclusion
By following the given organizational interventions Wesfarmers will be able to
identify the problems in its organization and will be able to easily solve the problems which
are being faced by the company. By applying organizational development plan in the
company structure the company might find the problems it needs to deal with the

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organization. In Wes farmers it has been found that the employees of the firm are not happy
with the company structure which is hampering the company from being productive. The
company needs to find out the motivational factors for the employee as it will directly affect
their revenue.

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References
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